Lion Heart
by xHarryPotterFan
Summary: Lily Evans is about to start her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry alongside her best friend Severus Snape. Together in a world Lily is slowly coming to grips with, Severus continues to offer her advice and guidance as she makes herself at home. And danger is lurking around every corner...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One; The Hogwarts Express**

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Lily Evans stood at the entrance of Kings Cross Station, nervously glancing around in search of her best friend Severus Snape. They had promised to meet outside at a quarter past ten so the two of them could board the Hogwarts Express together. It was nearing half past ten now and there was still no sign of him. Unwanted thoughts came to her mind as she worried about her friend's whereabouts. Surely nothing bad had happened to him. Perhaps there was a reasonable explanation for his lateness.

Even when they met up after school, he was rarely on time, so why was she worrying so much now?

Lily ran a hand through her long red fiery hair, green eyes scanning the forming crowd as they rushed to get their own trains. Most, she could tell, were running late or were rushing to get to their platforms in time before the train left. She knew trains sometimes arrived early.

She looked back at her older sister who was staring at her; a look of resentment in her eyes. Ever since Lily had shown her what she could do, Petunia had been unkind towards her, labelling her a freak and despite the many attempts of trying to make things up to her, Lily knew she was wasting her time, but the girl refused to give up. Things had got even worse when she received her letter to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her parents had been so proud of her and for some time, they had completely forgotten they had another daughter.

Looking up at the clock now, Lily saw that it was nearing quarter to eleven and she realised that she had to get going.

Her father had finished his bacon sandwich and wiped his hand on the paper towel he had in his pockets and he looked down at his youngest daughter, while Petunia stayed back, out of the way. "I don't think your friend is turning up Lily," he said calmly.

Her mother nodded agreement. "I think it is time we got you on the train dear," she said.

Lily sighed and she glanced around once more just in case he was coming and when she couldn't see him, Lily picked up her back and slung it over her back. "Let's go then," she said quietly.

Petunia smirked at her. She opened her mouth to say something before deciding against it and she forced herself forwards, walking further in front.

As her father was about to push the trolley with her trunk and other Hogwarts supplies on, Lily heard her name being called. She spun around, seeing a scruffy looking boy running towards her. His dark hair a mess and in his face. As soon as he reached her, he gasped for breaths and he remained quiet while he tried to catch his breath back.

Lily looked at him accusingly. "You took your time," she muttered.

Severus Snape looked up at his best friend; a girl he had told many Hogwarts tales to and the girl who had become his friend even though he had no idea why. "I know… I am so sorry. I woke up late," he told her between deep breaths. "But I'm here now and we only have ten more minutes," he told her.

Lily said nothing and she nodded. Her father led the way, followed by her mother and Petunia who scowled at both the young witch and wizard.

"Is she still giving you grief?" he whispered.

She nodded. "Yes, but it's okay. I am certain she'll get over it in time," she said and smiled brightly at him, having already forgotten about his lateness.

They walked through the train station in search of Platform 9 and three quarters and Severus took charge. He stood in front of the wall between platform's 9 and 10 and looked at Lily, encouraging her to go first.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Petunia snapped, though she was clearly going to enjoy the whole scene when Lily crashed into the wall and injuring herself.

Severus scowled at her. "I can go first if you want," he offered.

Lily gulped and nodded, though both paused when several young people disappeared through the wall with their trolleys.

"Wow," Lily said in awe. "That was incredible..."

Petunia scoffed and looked away, obviously disappointed.

Snape nodded and he went through soon afterwards, allowing Lily some time to say goodbye to her parents.

Lily looked at both of them, giving them a big hug and she closed her eyes. "I'm going to miss you both," she mumbled.

"We'll miss you too," her mother said, wiping a tear away with her handkerchief.

"You be a good girl and make sure to write to us," her father said.

Lily nodded, hugging them both again. "I will, I promise," she told them both. She turned and looked at Petunia who merely shrugged and walked away, leaving them alone. She was disappointed, but she had been expecting it.

Within moments, Lily was standing beside Severus, looking at the Hogwarts Express, again in awe. She found the whole thing enchanting and she was eager to see the castle. "Let's go find somewhere to sit," she said quietly.

Sometime later, both Severus and Lily were sitting in one of the compartments awaiting for the train to begin the journey. Lily suddenly felt cold and she pulled her coat tightly around her. She had decided to change into her school clothes when she knew they were half way there. Severus was already in his.

The door opened and Lily looked up, seeing a brown haired boy with glasses, smiling down at her before he looked at Severus. Lily eyed him warily. "Can we help you?" she asked him.

"No, not really..." he said. He looked from Severus to Lily. "I'm just curious and asking the first years what house they are hoping to be in," he said.

Lily shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I haven't given it much thought," she admitted. She turned to look at Severus. "What about you?" she asked and smiled.

Severus shrugged. "Slytherin," he said.

James stared at him, frowning. In that moment, he had taken an instant disliking to him. To him, Slytherin was the worst house. No one he had spoken to wanted to be in that house.

Sirius pushed James slightly and looked at Severus. "You want to be in Slytherin? Full of the pureblood supremacists?" he asked.

Severus glared. "It's none of your business is it? Leave us alone," he said.

Lily stared at the boys. "Is there anything else we can help you with?" she asked.

The boy pushed up his glasses and he smirked at Severus, who was eyeing him cautiously. "No… but I am James Potter," he said and grinned.

"Oh," she said flatly. "I'm Lily… Lily Evans and this is Severus Snape, my best friend." She decided to make that fact clear before he made any snide remarks.

"Your best friend? Eh, you can do better," he said and winked.

Lily clenched her fists and glared dangerously at him. "Go away before I push you out of the doorway," she hissed.

The other boy looked at Severus and he tilted his head, a smirk playing across his face. "I've never met a scruffy looking boy in all my life. Look at the state of him..."

James laughed, nodding his agreement. "Maybe we should do something about it."

Lily glared at him. Severus said nothing. He clenched his fists, wanting to say something - to do something, but he couldn't.

"We look forward to seeing you around," James said, laughing.

Before anyone else could say anything, a loud voice echoed through the corridor, addressing James Potter.

"Come on Potter, leave them alone," a boy the same as them said. He looked through the door and offered a friendly smile towards Lily and Severus, before dragging James away.

Lily watched as they disappeared and she looked at her friend. She had relaxed a little once he was gone. "You seemed a bit uncomfortable..." she said.

Severus shrugged his shoulders and turned away from her to look out of the window. "I'm not a people's person. You should know that," he said quietly.

And she did. Lily had taken an instant liking to the quiet boy sitting under that tree when they were nine years old. And he had liked her from the start. He had comforted her when her sister turned against her. He had hugged her when she cried after being called a freak. They had spent many days speaking about magic and telling her all she needed to know about Hogwarts and the lessons and the houses, though he had missed the part out where some of the purebloods were heavily prejudiced against muggleborn witches and wizards.

So far they hadn't had a run in with them and he was glad of it and he was hoping that the journey would be a quiet one. Severus had got a book out from his bag and Lily copied. Neither of them said anything on their journey.

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Author's Note: Author's Note; Actually quite nervous about writing this fan fiction. But anyway, here is the first chapter. Hope you enjoy reading it.


	2. Chapter 2

**C** **hapter Two; Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

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The Journey to the school had ended and each student made their way out of the platform. Lily followed behind Severus as quickly as she could for he was walking too fast. Thankfully, the rest of the train ride had been peaceful and there had been no signs of James Potter. Lily managed to walk beside her best friend and she gripped his robe so she didn't lose sight of him. Or she would have no idea where she was going.

The evening was cold for the 1st of September. Usually, it was still quite warm and Lily managed to pull her robes tightly around her. The next chapter of her life was about to begin and she was nervous and excited. She looked up at her friend's face, noting he showed no expressions, though she knew he was nervous too.

"We'll be alright, won't we?" she asked him.

Severus shrugged his shoulders. "I hope so. I hope that we are in the same houses together too," he said. He couldn't bare the thought of her being else where. Lily had been his first ever friend and he didn't want them to drift apart from each other. He wasn't going to tell her that it was actually one of his biggest fears.

They stopped and looked across the lake and then at the boats that would take them to the school. Lily turned and looked at him. "You never said anything about this..." she said, frowning.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," he assured her.

Within minutes, both were sitting in the boat with another student, who looked just as nervous as they did. Lily tried to offer her a reassuring smile, though it didn't work. For a moment, Lily thought that she might fall out and she grasped Severus' arm tightly. The thought of remaining on this boat for a while made her feel sick and she wanted to get off as soon as possible.

As the boats moved forward, Lily looked up and caught a glimpse of the magnificent castle that stood before her very eyes. She couldn't quite make out most of it, for it was dark. The journey felt like it was taking forever and Lily was relieved when they finally reached the underground harbour. Lily was first out of the boat and she stumbled a little.

Severus smiled, watching her and the girl climbed out soon after. She looked at Lily and smiled. "I'm Marlene McKinnon," she said, introducing herself.

Lily looked at her and she smiled back. "Lily Evans and this is my friend Severus Snape," she said, pointing towards the scruffy looking boy.

He didn't smile and he didn't say anything.

They were led up some stairs, across the lawn and towards the huge doors at the entrance of the castle. The first years talked amongst themselves and Lily couldn't quite make out what they were saying. She stood further back in the crowd alongside Marlene and Severus and she looked around her surroundings. She had never seen such a castle before and she looked around in awe, and wondering what the inside looked like. She didn't have to wait too long though.

The doors opened and a stern looking woman stood before them, eyeing them all suspiciously. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she simply said and with that, she turned, urging them all to follow her. All the students followed behind her, speaking in hushed voices.

Severus almost fell over when Sirius barged into him and he flashed him a wicked smile. James sniggered and the other boy from earlier shook his head, sighing though he made no comment on his friend's behaviour.

Lily sighed. Things weren't looking up for her poor friend and she was determined to make sure nothing happened to him, if she could. Thoughts ran through her mind, distracting her from what the professor was saying. Severus had nudged her in the side and looked at her.

"Huh? What? Did I miss something important?" she asked quietly.

Severus nodded.

"We're being sorted into houses once the professor lead us through the doors to the great hall," Marlene spoke up before Severus could say anything.

Severus scowled at her.

The sorting hat ceremony had begun. Many names had been called before Lily's name and when hers was called, she took a shaky breath and she walked towards the stool. She sat down and the Professor placed the Sorting Hat on her head. Severus hadn't mentioned this before, but she reasoned that he might not have known.

"Ummm..." The Sorting Hat spoke, causing Lily to jump. "Where shall we put you?" he questioned.

Lily remained quiet as she looked on ahead at the long tables filled with the older students and who were watching everything at the front.

"I know..." he spoke again. "Gryffindor!"

Lily jumped again when the Sorting Hat yelled and the Gryffindor table shouted and clapped loudly. She staggered off the stool and made her way towards the table, offering Severus a reassuring smile. She took her place at the table and shook few of the other students hands and then she looked forwards, watching the rest of the Sorting Ceremony take place.

James Potter and Sirius Black were sorted into Gryffindor too to her disappointment, as were Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, Marlene Mckinnon and Mary MacDonald. She was quite pleased that Marlene would be in the same house as her. And when it came to Severus, Lily watched, crossing her fingers in hopes he would be in the same house as her, and to her disappointment he was sorted into Slytherin.

"I'm glad he isn't in our house. He isn't a Gryffindor and never will be," James said, laughing.

Sirius nodded his head in agreement. "He's a coward though. Couldn't stand up for himself. Had to get a girl to fight his battles," he said grinning.

Lily scowled at them both. "Stop being horrible and shut up," she hissed at them. "He hasn't done anything wrong to you."

She had missed most of the Head Master's speech while telling those two idiots off and she had only caught the last of it.

"… And, I must warn you that you are not to go in Forbidden Forest at all. Danger lurks in every corner inside there," he told them all, especially the First Years. The older students must have heard it many times. "And news will spread through the school corridors before we can stop it and stories might change, so I will tell you. During the summer holidays, two muggle born witches were found murdered. You must remain cautious. You are not to leave your common rooms during the night and you should walk around in groups," he explained.

Gasps and whispering began to fill the room once the speech ended and the feast began. Lily stared at the food, having lost her appetite by the sudden revelation and she laced her fingers together. She looked over across the tables towards the Slytherin table and she caught Severus' eye. And then she looked away and forced herself to eat something – if only a little bit.

She looked up, watching as the First Years settled in and talking amongst themselves. It wasn't no surprise to her that Sirius and James were talking the loudest and she couldn't help but roll her eyes at them both.

After a while, Lily managed to eat something and she got into a conversation with both Marlene and Mary. Most of them seemed to have forgotten the warnings and the news so she decided to leave it to discuss with Severus when she got the chance to, which she hoped would be soon.

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Author's Note: Here is chapter two. Hope you enjoy reading it. Again, this is the first draft and there's going to be tons of mistakes. Once I've finished writing it, I'll be going through it and correcting everything.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three; The Gryffindor Common Room.**

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After the welcome feast ended, Lily walked alongside Marlene and Mary as they headed for the Gryffindor common room. Everyone was tired after the long journey. Even the walk up several moving staircases proved to be a challenge to Lily and it felt like she was gradually falling asleep. Marlene nudged her and she jolted.

"What was that for?" she asked, frowning.

Marlene chuckled, pushing back her blonde hair. "You were falling asleep, Lils. We can't have you sleeping on the moving staircases now," she told her.

Mary giggled, looking at them both. She linked arms with Lily, dragging her forwards at a fast pace. Marlene followed behind, shaking her head.

"I wonder what the inside of the common room looks like," Lily mused.

"Well, we will find out shortly. I think we're nearly there," Marlene informed her.

"Doesn't feel like it," Lily mumbled.

James pushed through the crowd of first years and he looked down at Lily as he pushed up his glasses. "At least we aren't down the dungeons with the Slytherins," he said and smirked at her.

Lily scoffed. "I'd rather be down there than be anywhere near you, Potter," she told him. She pushed her red hair back behind her ear and moved away from him. She hated him already.

They reached the entrance and within seconds, they were inside and Lily moved away from James and his friends. The roaring fire warmed the room up instantly. A portrait of a lion hung up on the wall above the fireplace mantle. The walls were decorated with scarlet tapestries and there were different shades of red and gold. Chairs were neatly placed by the fire and a long table stood against one of the walls. There was also a bulletin board where the school notices, ads, lost posters were posted.

Lily immediately felt at home. She looked back at her friends and she smiled brightly as they took in the room. It was obvious they loved it too. She decided to have a proper look around in the morning before classes start, for she was too tired. She followed behind the prefect who led the girls to their dormitories and Lily immediately found her bed. Their stuff had already been brought up for them.

She was glad to share a room with Marlene and Mary. Both girls seemed nice and she had taken an instant liking to them. Her thoughts went onto Severus and her smile faded as she wondered about how her friend was settling in. He rarely spoke and wherever he went, he never fitted in and it worried her that the other boys in his house might bully him too. He was never good at making friends.

A sigh escaped her lips as she climbed into bed. She was in no mood to have any sort of conversations now. All she wanted to do was go to sleep.

"Hey, Lily," Marlene called. "What do you think of Sirius Black?" she asked her.

Lily looked up and shrugged. "Hardly know him. But he is a bit of a pain as well as Potter. I don't like him," she muttered.

"Um, me too," Marlene said. She lay in her own bed, turned on her side and stared at the wall. Mary had gone to her own bed.

"I personally think that we should just focus on this school than deciding on what boys we like," Mary said. "There is so much to see around Hogwarts and so much to learn," she added.

Lily nodded agreement. "I can't wait to see more of the castle," she said.

"It's a shame we can't go in the Forbidden Forest," Marlene said. "I'd like to go there."

"It's called the Forbidden Forest for a reason, Marlene. Don't you dare think about going in there," Lily warned her.

Marlene snorted. "I don't plan to," she said. "I bet Potter and his friends will though. I bet trouble will follow them around soon enough," she added.

Lily laughed. "I wouldn't be surprised actually," she said. "Anyway, we ought to get some sleep. We have our first lessons tomorrow."  
"I wonder what we'll learn," Mary said. "Oh well, we'll find out in the morning," she said and she snuggled into the warm blankets. As did Marlene and Lily.

Lily turned on her side and she stared at the wall. She was surprised that none of them had brought up what Dumbledore had said. Although, she had assumed that they would be safe in the castle. It was well protected here. The professors wouldn't let anything happen to them. It had taken her a while, but she had managed to fall asleep – looking forward to tomorrow.


End file.
